Fadimatou Iyawa

A computer engineer with expertise in biometrics and cybersecurity, Fadimatou Iyawa Ousmanou is a holder of two Master’s degrees in Telecommunications and Networks, Information Systems, and Software Engineering. She also holds an International Honours Diploma in Business Administration from the Cambridge Institute of Professional Training and is currently pursuing a PhD in Peace and Development at the Protestant University of Central Africa. An engineering consultant at Cyberstion, a US-based company, she is also a systems and network engineering consultant for Veridos, the German partner of Elections Cameroun, in charge of the national electoral biometrics project, as well as CEO and Founder of Felio Design and Expert Tracking, Cameroon. Her superb profile positions her as a true Woman Leader in STEM. Fadimatou has always had a strong passion for youth issues ever since her university days. This passion is showcased by her involvement in a wide range of associations at the national level, such as the humanitarian association YUMMEN, of which she is the founding president, and with which she is involved in a World Bank-financed youth education project in Northern Cameroon. She is also the promoter of the Women and Youth Leaders Empowerment Forum (WYLEF) initiative, a platform that promotes female and youth leadership. In 2017, Fadimatou became the Adamawa Focal Point for the Cameroon Health Information and Libraries Association (AIBSC). Later that year, at the end of the World Festival of Youth and Students (WFYS) held in October in Sochi, Russia, she was appointed Secretary General of FUTURE TEAM Cameroon. She is also an Alumni of the American Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI ) program of the Regional Leadership Center (CRL), at the African Center for Higher Studies in Management (CESAG), Dakar, since February 2017, where she studied Business and Entrepreneurship (5th cohort of YALI).
In 2018, she became the first-ever female President of the Cameroon National Youth Council (CNYC) under its third mandate. This new responsibility at the CNYC stemmed from her special duties as public relations officer of the former Executive Bureau. Her fellow youth leaders renewed their confidence in her for a second mandate at the helm of this youth umbrella organisation in 2022. Meanwhile, in 2019, in recognition of her ongoing commitment to promoting peace and living together against a backdrop of irredentist crises rocking Cameroon, she was appointed 4th Vice-Chair of the Major National Dialogue (MND). Concurrently, she was appointed a member of the Committee to follow up on the Implementation of the Recommendations of the Major National Dialogue by Decree No. 2020/136 of 23 March 2020 by the Head of State. She became a member of the National Committee of the Presidential Plan for the Reconstruction and Development of the North-West and South-West Regions by Order No. 031/CAB/PM of 03 April 2020 by the Prime Minister, Head of Government. In 2021, Fadimatou was made a Knight of the Cameroonian Order of Merit by the Head of State, His Excellency Paul Biya. On the international scene, Fadimatou held 2018, the position of Secretary General of French-speaking Africa for the Afro-Arab Youth Council, and is equally Vice-Chair of the UNESCO Advisory Board for the youth empowerment project through media and communication for migration in Dakar, since July 2019. Furthermore, in line with the African Union’s response to COVID-19, Fadimatou was appointed a member of the Africa Youth Front on CoronavirusTask Force, chaired by the African Union Youth Special Envoy and working in collaboration with the Africa CDC and the AFCOR Task Force. She also served as an Advocate for the African Union’s African Youth Charter between 2020 and 2022. Fadimatou is Ambassador of the Francophonie of the Future, National Youth Delegate (NYD) of the Commonwealth Youth Council (CYC), Goodwill Ambassador for the promotion of Cybersecurity in Cameroon, ICESCO Youth Ambassador for Peace, and UNESCO Youth Ambassador for Peace, as well as Ambassador of Junior Chamber International (JCI). She has earned several Awards to her credit, namely: Best Leadership in Peace and Citizenship Award by Youth Connekt Cameroon 2020; Excellence in Leadership Award 2020; Best Leadership in Volunteerism Award by MINJEC 2020; Excellence in Leadership Award by the CNYC 202; The 30 best Young Cameroonians in 2022 The 10 Women embodying Female Leadership in the Sahel 2023; The 40 best Young Cameroonians in 2024; The Peace Medal, awarded by the Belgian Combatants Federation and the Belgian Embassy in Cameroon in 2024.